Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on July 21, 2026 in New York City.
Spencer Pratt | Getty Images
of S&P500 Stocks rose slightly on Wednesday, weighed down by higher oil prices as investors looked ahead to another busy day for corporate earnings.
The broader market index rose 0.2%. Nasdaq Composite It traded near the flatline. of Dow Jones Industrial Average Added 185 points (0.4%).
brent crude oil futures Prices rose 2% to more than $93 per barrel, the highest price in about a month, and at one point exceeded $95. West Texas Intermediate Futures The price rose 2% to more than $86 per barrel.
Oil prices rose following 11 consecutive U.S. attacks on Iran, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran was “not serious about talks.”
“If they are serious, we are serious. If they are not, we will do what is necessary to protect our interests and the interests of our allies,” he said.
Rubio also said the U.S. military “continues to protect” ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Traders are keeping an eye on crude oil, worried that it could continue to push consumer goods prices higher, which could lead to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates.
“Inflation is definitely rising, and I don’t think there’s much the Fed can do about it,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “What’s definitely weighing on the market is where interest rates are actually going to go from here.”
As of Wednesday morning, federal funds futures traders were pricing in a 31% chance the Fed would raise rates this month. Traders were pricing in a 74% chance of a rate hike of at least a quarter point in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
More revenue
Earnings will be back in the spotlight on Wednesday with the release of the report. ServiceNow, international office equipment, tesla, texas instruments and alphabet. Investors will be closely monitoring updates on AI spending, cloud demand, enterprise technology budgets, and the outlook for the second half of the year.
Investors remain focused on whether strong demand for AI infrastructure and software continues to justify elevated valuations across the technology sector as earnings season accelerates.
“It’s really all about orders,” Martin said. “The beat is important. Raises are important, but what’s driving it isn’t necessarily next quarter’s or this year’s earnings, but the projection of how long the cycle will last and how much growth you can expect in one, two, and three years.”
“Everyone will be looking at hyperscalers,” he added.
shares of super microcomputer Shares rose 24% after the server maker predicted higher-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter profit margins after the company said it had won more than $60 billion in new orders in the same period.
AT&T Shares rose 3% after the company’s second-quarter results beat expectations. vice versa, GE Vernova Shares fell 5% after the company’s second-quarter profit fell short of expectations.
